Thetownend.com

Wot no thread?

We'd all take a draw, right!

Don't forget its a 7pm KO again

Is it today? I wouldn't have known if it is.

It's a meh from me

I forgot too until I saw on Twitter.

Then I came here for the chat and...nowt.

Defeat. 3-0

They’ll be a good passing side. Lose 2-0

I'd be pleasantly surprised if we get anything out of the next 3.

Miss a couple of chances in the first five minutes, concede four, Grounds sent off for two yellows, late Smith consolation.

4-1

1-1 draw with a gutsy backs to the wall performance. With A Grant seemingly continuing to play through the pain barrier, I can see us bolstering the defence and midfield by playing Caddis as part of a midfield 3 in a 352 formation, with Odimayo and Fryers nominally as wing backs.  Kovar, Odimayo, Baudry, Conroy, Grounds, Fryers, Caddis, A Grant, M Smith, DJ, Hope subs Fryer, Haines, J Smith, Stevens, Payne, T Smith, Pitman. Plenty of attacking options on the bench. This all assumes Conroy and Fryers are ready to play 90 minutes.

Time for the cheery Leggett 'we're gonna get pumped' comment. Which we will.

I am probably the least excited about a Town game than I have been in many years, the thought of a midweek game at a Northern outpost, in wet and cold weather with no fans present.

We have been playing quite well but without really threatening the opposition goal even though we have many chances an each of the last 3 or 4 games and still conceding very poor goals either through goalkeeping, defensive or slack midfield errors.

I want a game where we don't concede and build on from there.

It was great to see Conroy back (although half his long passes were very poor but half were excellent on Saturday) Baudry seems calmer alongside him, and Fryers back who also seemed like he had never been away also proving that his missing games was not a financial issue as had been suggested by several fan (not so much on here).

Payne looks good on the ball but is still a bit lightweight up against huge defenders as he has been most of the season, if he got his shooting boots on he would be in double figures already.

DJ is the one that has excited me most in games, he is a constant threat and Fleetwood struggled with him all game, he even won several headers!

Basically if we can come away with a point tonight I will be very pleased against a very strong Donny side.

Their form lately has been WWLLWDWDWWLWW. They have only lost 4 league games and are one of the top 3 highest scoring sides and top 7 lowest conceding teams in the division. They spread their goals throughout the team too.

Going to be a difficult night for Town fans I fear.

Coconut shy which we somehow survive and nab a morale boosting win from a keeper error.


Much like Charlton away all those years ago when Quinny was the Manager and we were on our way down.

Who was there that day?

Didnt attend but remember winning £55 off a £5 bet. That's how much of a shock result it was.

A new loanee named Baldrick will make his debut in midfield. He will execute his cunning plan and all will be forgiven.  

Or, I could face reality and admit were in for yet another hammering!

I'll see you, and raise you one.

We'll be running on empty (again), we'll set up with a single forward who will get no service, midfield will be overrun, and defence will crumble under the weight of incessant attacks. Think Crewe, but without the illusion of hope.

Now surprise me.

The only match i saw that season...living in Kent then...epic result as Charlton only needed a point to go up into the Prem that day.

Last couple of visits to the ‘oss breeders have been memorable.
Late goals from Obika to secure a win and a draw.

The Easter 2013 visit was also memorable if only for the turgid nature of the performance.

A similar start to the last away game but taking the chances this time would be ideal.
Have a feeling that it might be a case of cometh the hour tonight with The Hitman coming off the bench to leap like a salmon and head the winner in added time.

We’ll need to a play a blinder tonight. A bit like these former Doncastrians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hijwbTL8-KM

Nobbad that. Reminds me of Reverend & The Makers. There's a definite South Yorkshire sound isn't there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ8VfaiWJXw

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpSkmDxXUAEpVDu?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

Definitely a back 5 tonight.

He also has the option of playing Conroy in the DMC position with 4 across the back too.

Like the look of that side, Hope isn't the ideal focal point but he'll put the effort in. COYR.

Doubt that, a midfield of only Payne and Smith is extremely unlikely for me, Conroy into midfield perhaps?

Thats why I said about Conroy at DMC, without Grant there is no protection of the defence in that midfield, Payne, DJ, Hope and the 2 Smiths are all very attack minded.

That role is not alien to Dion at all, he has played there with varying success previously.

I was typing as you were posting so didn't see that until after, added a quote subsequently.

Nominally 5 centre-halves in that side.  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

We're rolling in them!

And yet still room on the bench for Curran. You wonder what Haines and the others have to do to get a look-in.

I thought Grant would be rested tonight.
Just need to keep it tight first half and go from there.

2-1 win. Hope & J.Smith

Get a rich dad? ;)

Midfield always the most important part of the team. We are more fucked tonight than usual.

5-5-0 formation with DJ most likely to get somewhere near a the Donny penalty box.

I think the manager is hoping for a point.

Spain were quite successful with a 4-6-0 formation a few years back.

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ogG4yGLnKNg/UGnykQ7JDjI/AAAAAAAABZ8/7JcMk-DCrBc/s1600/abDq4s9amc.jpg)

Yes, that's definitely the right comparison.  :(

Decent kickoff ending in a shot on target by Payne.

We do have plenty of Juan Kerr’s about the place though.

Craig Levein's Scotland less so.

Conroy started the game sat in front of the back 4 in midfield.

Playing his shirt number, good lad.

Indeed, you pick a formation for the players available, sometimes it works sometimes less so.

Impossible to write a side off even before kick off based purely upon a formation.

We often look good in the first fifteen minutes like this, then our batteries run down. Duracell we ain’t.

Great tackle and break by Payne to J Smith but his right foot finish is a bit weak.

Early days I know but we look useful so far without creating anything clear cut.

Bit like when he started a centre back up front, it worked for 1 game and that was it, so who knows, a centre back in midfield might work for today, although its unlikely he can last 90+ mins

Nice take by Kovar from the free kick.

Is it just me but the ref appears to favour the home side somewhat.

Evening chaps. Late home. Dinner done....Last time I saw this formation was under McMahon at Huddersfield. Chris Hay up top and 9 across the back. Got a draw I think. Would take that tonight!

On the back foot now

Jack Payne an unlikely destructive DM but he's doing his absolute best.

Hes done quite well tracking back more today and winnings balls in a more defensive role.

Another good move by Town, Payne shot and then Hope.

Shocking two footed tackle in midfield by a Doncaster player... on another Doncaster player as Matt Smith skips between them.

We are too often trying to walk it in rather than having a shot.

Not really a direct comparison as Conroy is a bit more cultured than Broadbent but still a bit of try and hope.

Johnny Smith misses a great chance.

What a chance for J Smith!

Should have hit the target

Johnny Smith!
Curls it over!

Should have hit the target

Oh Johnny, how did you sky that 🤦‍♂️

Good game so far. Payne doing very well.

Payne and Matt Smith our best 2 for me so far.

We've been excellent in the first two thirds of the pitch. Just need to add that crucial final one...

Smith......  :headhurts:

Good block by Grounds in the 6 yard box at the expense of a corner.

Donny comms slagging off Kovars distribution with his feet.

I don't like all the faffing about at the back

Ref giving them everything and us almost nothing.

Because he doesn’t smash it long all the time like their keeper?

Its coming... he needs it !!!

Their keeper is also playing it short

TBH they have not been very complimentary about us so far at all, saying its Doncaster mistakes and not us playing well whenever we create something.

Very good save by Kovar.

Great save.

What a save from Kovar!

Great save Matej

That's a great save from kovar

Our attacks fail when DJ’s flicks aren’t finding anyone so far.

HT 0-0 pretty decent so far.

Good half. Created a bit, as did they brining three good saves from kovar

Massive improvement from Saturday

Quite even

Some half time ska:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtESlTKBa4s

DJ has been a huge disappointment today after his good performance on Saturday.

Conroy on a yellow?

Played really well in that first half. Back six and Kovar all playing well with some threat on the counter but not achieving much near their goal.

Kovar looks twice the keeper he was at the start of the season (which admittedly is damning on how he started). If he improves at this rate all season he'll be some player.

Fryers really helps the defence with his pace, think his being there calms Baudry. Grounds looks much better at left back than centre, and Odimayo continues to impress.

Feels like the kind of game that's going to be settled by a mistake. Let's hope it's not ours for a change.

Not bad and having some pace and footballers at the back make a difference.
Jonny Smith looks a threat.

Must say that I can't wait to see that save from Kovar again. That was in all the way off the Doncaster lad's boot until Kovar kept like a salmon to push it out from lodging in the top left stanchion!

Best save I have seen in a long while from a Town keeper! Worth the entrance fee on its own!

That was actually quite enjoyable. Far better than Saturday and a good performance from one and all.

Some great movement from Conroe, Zeki is doing what Zeki does and it shows.

Our Matt Smith is playing some great balls so let’s hope for something from this.

Good save at the end there. To be honest after watching him in person at the weekend and hearing his communication during games I’m much more impressed with Kovar. I don’t think TV always does keepers justice and I don’t think we’d think as much of Benda if we’d only ever seen him on screen.

Decent contest. Closer than I expected, though Donny bossed the last quarter. We’ve stayedo in a good shape, and used DJ and Jonny’s pace to break out. Oddly, nothing going to Hope yet. Payne was very good for the first thirty, which is longer than usual. I hope he doesn’t disappear in the second half, as he often does. We might yet lose this by less than I expected.

Looked as if he was knackered from pressing on his own for the first 15 mins.

The only 2 players who have not impressed me so much today have been DJ and Hope, maybe its worth swapping their positions round 2nd half.

I thought DJ has been okay, not outstanding but doing his best with almost no support and a ref who is content to allow him to be pushed but not for him to push back. There's more talent there, but it's a thankless task in the system to play as the lone man centrally.

Been watching out of the side of my eyes while on meetings.

Seemed an OK performance thus far, pretty equal on chances, maybe they have a bit more going forward than us?

Jack Payne- I mentioned at the weekend that I think he flatters to deceive.  I'd be very interested to see how many shots he has that are blocked.  I honestly can't think of a player to achieve the amount that he does, which suggests it's a problem.  Him and J Smith could do with some target practice.

Fryers is a game changer in defence - not saying we'll be world beaters with him, but his composure and pace are both great additions.

Overall it's a solid enough foundation to build on.  I'd probably have Hope and DJ the other way around.  Grounds can;t run, so he is not going to get caught too far forward, so you can probably have a player like DJ in front of him.  You need the central player to be a bit more reliable and Hope seems far more engaged in the game when central.  DJ then has more license to do the flocks and turns without the pressure of being the central fulcrum of the team.

Yep, DJ has actually held the ball up better than Tyler or Pele in a similar role, because of his good ball control, but he's getting closed down and crowded out. But there's hope. Except so far we've been playing without Hope.

Playing a lone striker is not playing to his strengths really, he has so much to offer but today he seems to have fallen over his own feet a few times and needs to get a shot in rather than doing a "Ricky Villa" and dribbling through the defence.

His flicks look great when they come off, but most of the time he's giving the ball away with them.

That said, he's a real wildcard and can create something out of nothing

Quite a change in approach.  Men behind the ball.  Allowing Donny donkeys as much ball as they like in their own half.  Credit to Sheridan et al for that change.  Doncaster were looking dangerous towards the end and belatedly  showing they were adapting to our defensive setup.  They will have their own additional ideas in the second half, after being otherwise largely contained.  So it may indeed be for Sheridan to adapt to their changes, as well as looking for best ways to nick a goal.  Swapping Hope and Jayesimi round could help.

And well done Matty Kovar

Forgot to say - I really do like our away kit! 😎

FFS 0-1

Cock.

Jack Payne and Baudry, take a bow.  Comedy gold.

Oh fuck off

I take it all back!

Payne missed the ball then it went straight through Baudry. Stupid stuff. What a waste.

The amount of goals we concede due to a lack of concentration is staggering. Saturday it was switching off from a set piece and today it’s switching off at the start of the second half!

Ref isn't giving DJ a free kick for anything short of being headbutted, it seems.

Payne and Baudry providing your schoolboy errors this evening.

That was awful.

The ref is giving them absolutely everything, a real homer.

Cheers for that Grounds.

Bad tackle by Fryers lucky it was only a yellow.

Fryers yellow.

Trying to mop up Grounds being lazy - something he does quite a bit, Grounds that is.

Donny comms saying the Doncaster players should have complained more and got Fryers sent off.

Jeez this ref.

Can we make all 5 subs together please - sick of watching this week in week out..

Official stats have it as fourteen fouls given against Swindon to two against Doncaster. That is absolutely not representative of the game.

You must really hate Andrew Hawes. I think our comms are fine.

3 yellows. I fear the worst as usual

Shocking.

This ref's a bit of a cunt

I wanted a different viewpoint, although I am not a huge fan of Hawes, just fancied something a bit different, and my word they are so biased, giving Town absolutely zero credit for anything.

All over the shop and out of ideas right now

Not even turning up?

Fucking hell Jonny Smith is so frustrating.

Happens a lot when we go one down

Nope not even that!

Payne played so well 1st half, so far this half hes been awful.

Stevens on for Hope.

Sims injured literally a foot from the touchline but apparently this needs to be a ten minute break in proceedings.

Stevens on for Hope, think that's a sensible change. Hope hasn't been in the game at all, bit surprised he didn't swap with DJ a bit.

Being Hopeless is actually a positive at this point.

Sadly none of which is new.

I know his dad posts on here but he has zero end product and his crossing/shooting is beyond poor. Running fast and looking dangerous is all well and good but at the moment he reminds me of Brophy for us and that’s not really a compliment.

But that is Payne, and playing him in a role so close to the centre of defence is asking for trouble.  He is not a bits and pieces player, he feels like he has to be doing something with every touch.  He's not that great at that when playing wide, but at least he is away from trouble.  He can put 60 good minutes together where he is, but he will run out of steam due to his style and cause us three or four problems in a game.

We must literally have had a five minute stoppage for very little reason there. This ref is a cock in every department. Now watch 4 mins added at the end.

I would get Payne off and Tyler on and push DJ back into midfield.

Good chance for DJ nice shot but its saved.

Thats better from Johnny Smith and DJ

You are correct, never got a solid 65 or anywhere near 90 mins consistancy from him.

Difficult chance for DJ, but straight at keeper

He needs a goal that is all, he showed in preseason what he is capable of, just needs to get his confidence back.  I agree his performances at the moment are frustrating, but I feel he is worth persevering with.  If he was playing in a side full of confidence he would be killing it, he isn't so isn't.

Easy save for Kovar after they broke away.

To an extent I agree but every shot/cross hits the first man and has been the case for the majority of games he’s played for us.

Poor pass by Conroy saved by Baudry.

He set up our best chance of the game not five minutes ago. I agree his end product isn't the best, but if it was he'd be nowhere near League One, his build up play is on another level.

Unfortunately, no Town player has achieved that yet this season.

Grounds actually beginning to look a bit more adventurous coming forward, which is new for me.

Get Grounds off and go 3 at the back, extra man in midfield, get a proper striker on.

Yeah it's hard to see why Tyler Smith is still on the bench, unless he's carrying an injury.

No goal scored in over 300 minutes of football now.
That’s a bit shit.

We've recovered some shape if not threat

He just reminds me of Brophy at the moment and he played for us in this league... runs fast, gets into a dangerous position and then without fail the final ball is powder puff.

Can i throw my Ifollow season ticket at the dugout in disgust..

Towns passes have all been made into crowded areas of the pitch rather than into any space.

Almost all of our passes seem to find the most populated areas on the pitch.

I’d take off Payne for Tyler. Grounds is useful where he is.

I fucking hate Grounds, I have decided.

I'd push Fryers into his role, drop Conroy back and put Smith up top with DJ given license to wander.

Game over.

0-2 game over.

Acres of space at the back for the scorer.

Knife through butter. That was Odimayo off defensive duties.

Yet again a complete lack of concentration

I give up, take them all off!

Was that Odimayo not tracking or Baudry wandering?  I looked like the former, but could just as easily have been the latter.

Game over. Where the fuck was odimayo

Unbelievable! Odimayo up the pitch and Baudry tracking the same player as Fryers

We seem to have acquired the knack of losing comfortably whilst playing well. Doesn't bode well that.


Playing forward because we're chasing the game. Needs the centre back to cover the space a bit though.

Got nothing about us.
Pack the defence out, mistake and no threat up front.
Fucking depressing.

It’s difficult when we offer next to no goal threat. We are chronically lacking a decent striker who can hold the ball up or win a flick on.

Last season ...

https://youtu.be/0y0wixkvMeI

Needs a goal.... even a powder puff one.... 8)

We are going down with a whimper with Sheridan in charge, this game has resigned me to it, i was giving him the benefit of the doubt previously..

Play OK. Lose comfortably. Repeat. Don't see this ending any time soon.

Anderson & Yates both scoring for Blackpool and a case of what we could have had!

Aargghhh.

I can not see where a goal is coming from, let alone a win.
We really are in the shit.

Sheridan isn’t the man to keep us up.

It's not Grounds' strength to be creating on the lhs when we are trailing and time is running out.  I keep thinking he needs to be subbed second half.  Odimayo nowhere for Donny's second.

This team needs a proper disciplinarian style manager who will keep the players on their toes, that is the only way we’d be capable of getting out of trouble. Unfortunately Sheridan isn’t that, he’d just here doing the bare minimum to get paid.

310 mins and counting(15 mins left), this will be 4 defeats in a row with us only scoring 2 goals in that time but conceding 9 (so far).

We are struggling now, a decent first half but 2 very poor goals defensively have cost us yet again. Just can't see us scoring today unfortunately.

I am sorry, we have not played "well" in a game for months.  We have played OK, or better at times, but not well.  Today we have had a good 20 mins or so, been competitive for some of the other and looked ropey as shit at other times.

We put the ball in the net, that's a silver lining. It's offside, obviously, but it's in the net!


You're right to an extent, I meant relatively well, I don't for one second think we're a good team. Earlier in the season we played terribly and lost. We've stopped playing terribly, but haven't stopped losing. That's what worries me most.

Fuck off Sheridan. Useless bastard.

2 strikers on the bench and the silly fucker isnt even looking at bringing one of them on

8 defeats in 10 for Sheridan this will be, I believe?

Yay, ball in net.

Boo offside

Correct

We are in big trouble, aren’t we?  :(

If Power cares he’ll find us a manager.

And it only clicked this evening why Sheridan wasn’t doing the press conference yesterday - because he didn’t think training on Monday was worth coming South for.

It won't be long before the journeyman is off again to pastures new

Tyler Smith coming on for Conroy, too little too late.

Surely Pitman is fit enough for 15 minutes? If he isn't, why have him on the bench?

Unfotunately we are relying on his end product being  at least league one standard.

I feel so sorry for Matt Smith, head and shoulders..

You don't say

I appreciate that, but we can only judge on what he does for us and like the majority of players for us the end product seems to be to smash it into the first defender or into the stand.

He will be here for as long as Power is...

Gone in january i reckon

Seems the management, players and fans have already resigned themselves to relegation.

Wellens certainly knew what was coming his way.

They can all fuck off.

It's not goo do for his CV being bottom of the league and losing every week😂

It has not done him too much harm in recent seasons!

From one relegation battle to another!

That's why he left Wigan. Now he's third bottom of the league and losing every week - clear signs of progress.

He may as well have stayed at Wigan and saved the house move

This clown realises he can make 5 subs right?

Sent from my XQ-AD51

If only we were battling. More like bending over, spreading your cheeks and chewing on a pillow.

That sounds kinky

Why don’t Doncaster have ball boys?

The only difference is he was guaranteed a pay day until June if he came here, at Wigan he was guaranteed a pay day until the following week

Coz they're 2 nil up

Do they give them a call when they go behind?

Covid rules I imagine.

They knew they wouldn't be needed tonight so gave them the night off

He just doesn't give a shit. Nor does power. I actually feel for the players. I don't really hold anything against them, particularly in the current climate. They're being grossly mismanaged. DJ trotting around up front is hard to watch when he's by some distance our best player (that we own). Matt Smith is playing too much football because we built a squad with 2 CMs. Jack Payne is wasted. I feel for them.

 It's depressing all round and won't change until Power and Sheridan go.

Town players body language is not good.

Its going to be difficult to pick the players up from this one.

We've morphed into a Paul Hart relegation team but 20 games earlier.

What's the record lowest points total in league 1.

Especially when the manager says “enjoy the coach home, I’m off back to Manchester so see you Saturday.”

Obviously even a win over Pox was not enough to lift them out of this torpor

Sadly no idea how we can improve much more with the players we have.
Once the first went in the game was over.

COVID has probably impacted us more than any other club. Killed all the momentum we built up and destroyed what little interest/money Power did have left. Now we are just on tick over until a change of ownership or financial oblivion, seemingly nothing will change until we reach either of those points.

He has to go, and before January.

Look i don't mind criticism, everyone has an opinion. I don't think Swindon as a team have had any luck at all this season over most games.

Tonight irrespective that he is a winger the two main chances created this evening were both by him so far , and a 3rd was his own when he should have scored , he has worked hard and that's all I ask of any player, it just hasn't worked but you cannot fault work ethic.  Its easy blaming or creating a scapegoat but there are 11 players on the pitch ... and watching it now at 94 minutes he is still creating with a corner...

We can't afford to sack him while Power is in charge of the club.

Wellens knew that this squad wouldn't be good enough and I doubt we will be playing Salford next season

Have the League 2 champions ever gone straight back down?

Maybe it's blind optimism, but I think there are seven or eight players on the pitch who are absolutely good enough. It doesn't help at all that they get picked in weird combinations and positions as the squad is so horribly unbalanced, but the main problem is that none of them are a goal threat. Don't think we can underestimate how much Pitman's (thus far) failure has hurt us.  

Pen to Town.

Penalty!

Sheridan's contribution so far has been to get rid of our attacking threat but keep our defensive frailties.

M Smith is the one bright spot in this shit show of a season.

Bit of a comedy penalty. Don’t really care at this point.

2-1 Full time.

1-2 DJ penalty.

Pompey fans said that he was overweight and lazy and he hasn't disappointed

I don't doubt the squad is good enough to stay up, if they're well managed and relatively fit. They're not.

Yep, it’s clear to see there are some good players, but the tactics are fucking awful

I doubt we are good enough to stay up. Leaky as fuck.

Does anyone remember us tearing Burton and Rochdale a new one early in the season? Can’t see that happening now!

That was no way a penalty.

I think I'm just thinking that relegation and a rebuild to win the division with a new manager and owner will be great!

In general they wanted to keep him

This probably sums it up, if they had confidence they’d probably comfortably be mid-table. Unfortunately without confidence the majority have very little in the way of redeeming features and you can’t see where the results to build confidence will come from.

In hindsight, both were very bad teams. Burton are bottom and Rochdale are were above us on goal difference before tonight.

What a load of shit, again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that you have to put a striker on the pitch to score goals. We've gone from an attacking team with promise but leaky at the back to a side who still concedes shit goals and creates little to nothing. Going down.

While I agree Pitman hasn't worked - its a tall order to pin your hopes on a striker that hasn't played a competitive game since last December

Dodgy at the back and toothless up front. Throw in a footballing dinosaur as manager and it’s 2010/11 all over again. All you are missing is a useless long haired wanker in the middle ala Prutton!

Kenny jacket didn't

Yep, I actually thought the starting lineup had a lot of quality on paper.

Then i remembered who was in charge. I’m not one for knee jerk reactions and 10 games isn’t really enough to judge a manager, however it is in this instance, he needs to go

I guessed that from the fact he didn’t offer him a contract

So, another whimper of a game.  Ignoring it competely, what do we have.

Fryers - more than competent at this level
M Smith - head and shoulders above the rest of this team
J Smith - there is something there that would work in a better team and system, you can see enough to work on
Odimayo - still young, has talent, you don't want to be relying on him with everyone else fucking up around him though
DJ - never a centre forward but you want him in your team at this level
Conroy - needs more minutes

T Smith - I like his industry but this is the wrong season to have him as the main attacker

Baudry - in any other season this he'd be on his way out
Grounds - lazy player (not in terms of effort, in terms of approach to the game)
Payne - I don't rate him, all flicks and running, no real impact on a game and tires himself out
Stevens - all pace and nothing else
Kovar - a gamble that won't pay off this season for us
Pitman - been an utter waste of space
Fryer - see Kovar
J Grant - not seen much to think he will maintain a spot in this league long term

Caddis, Hunt & Grant all seem broken a bit
Lyden - seems broken completely

That's too many bit part or bad gamble style players and it's costing us.

I think we can put a good XI out on the pitch if everyone is fully fit.  The problem is that doesn't seem likely to happen and outside the key four or five the level is just not good enough.  Either they lack talent, or fitness, or mental toughness/sharpness/concentration or a mixture of all three.

Good guess then

Agree with most of that but Kovar is actually starting to look the part now, I wouldn’t be too upset to see us stick with him for the rest of the season. He’s one of the few players who’s actually improving.

Oh, and Sheridan can fuck off

Exactly. We lost what we had. And still havent sorted the defence. We are now just completely shit.

As predicted Sheridan is not the answer. He has to be removed asap

But you can't wait 20 games for a Keeper to look good, which is what we have had to do.  I still see a weakness in him with balls close and low.  He stands too tall, like a defender.  He will also take a year or two to take control of the box.

I might be in with a shout of a ticket on Saturday  :)

Sheridan just said we lost 2-0..

This time last week I wasn’t worried about things. Now I’m very worried though.

Nemo said it well earlier. Weve gone from being truly awful to much less awful, but still losing.

Leaving DJ as the lone striker for as long as he did even though it’s plain to see that he needed some support is unforgivable for me.

Just hoping there are 4 worse teams than us.
We have nothing up front and no idea if we will change it in January. Fryers, Conroy first half looked to have steadied the ship but we always have a mistake in us and that has not been sorted out.
Trying to remain hopeful but it’s fading fast as teams around us are picking up the ugly points which we appear not to be capable of doing right now.

I don't think there is one. Conceded the most goals and lost the most games.

This cunt really hasn't got a clue.

Of course we all like to give someone a chance but let's put it out there...if you were looking to employ someone for a senior management position (and you didn't know them), saw that they had managed at 10 different companies in 5yrs (one of them twice, thus 11 appointments) would that not raise even the slightest of alarm bells? Would you want to find out why?

To add to that, if you then noted/discovered that there was a track record of poor ethics at several of these appointments, would you maybe look at the next CV before even considering the possibility of dreaming about interviewing this daft twat?

Some being a little harsh on Jonny Smith. The lad just needs a goal and if I were his old man (RapidFlyer), likely there will be some fraught responses on here (worse elsewhere) tonight but it will just be raw emotion coming out. Probably best most players stay off socials tonight but of course that is difficult and part of the career now.

It really shouldn't be the players coming under a huge amount of flack tonight. This manager is useless and several of the lads (rightly or wrongly) clearly do not want to play under this charlatan. It wouldn't surprise me if he thought Hope was DJ and DJ was Hope. That's probably why they were playing in the wrong positions. Then again that's what happens when you don't surround yourself with the squad and spend time away from work allegedly on the piss.

Leopards and spots come to fucking mind! Listen to BBCWilts now...sobriety anyone?Fucking half cut by the sounds of it.

No coincidence that Shrewsbury have started winning since Coterill went there

Remind me the last season we had weaker options up front than Hope, Tyler Smith, Joel Grant and Pitman.

You're well within your rights (and just plain correct) to question Sheridan's record and performance. But you need to stop the alcoholism references, it's just not on, right or wrong.

Sheridan:
- People are probably laughing at me.
- We've lost 2-0 again. We haven't scored a goal. (I guess he missed the penalty!)
- Again, we've played well
- First half they have only had one chance when they had one shot then Kovar saved
- Then we're in possession, we give it away twice and its 2-0
- Their manager complimented Sheridan on Town being a good team
- People will get sick and tired of me saying the same thing. Its just hard to take
- We've got to score goals when we have opportunities
- We've got to score and get a lead
- The shape and performance against a good football side was good
- We get punished when players switch off. We shouldn't concede like that
- Possession is fine, but we've got to score
- We can match anyone possession wise, but we've got to score
- We matched a very good side tonight
- I think we are playing well enough to win, but just not scoring goals
- We've had some good opportunities
- I don't know where we were for the second goal. We've got to stay in the game and we were coming back into the game
- We don't hit the target enough nor work the keeper enough
- Fryers was excellent for his first game
- Conroy needs to get fit after being out
- Grant shouldn't have played in the last couple with an ankle injury
- Next 2 games don't get any easier
- Just need to keep the level of performance up.
- Need to stay positive
- Possibly Hunt and Lyden back for the next couple of games.

What has happened to Iandolo? Have I missed/forgotten an injury?

I reckon Wigan are (just about) worse than we are. Although I wouldn't be prepared to back that with any actual money.

What a fucking mess.

There’s a common denominator with us 2. Getting relegated with 2 clubs, in the same league, in the same season will be some achievement.

Given the damage inflicted on Wigan by their former owners and the fact they're still in admin, flogging off just about any players with two functioning feet, I'd be minded to give any manager a pass on that one tbf

Ah come on. You mean you would have said that until you witnessed his ‘management’ here.

The first half was a change of approach and worked.  J. Smith had a great chance for a goal too and on his favoured left foot. Credit to Sheridan for the first half who I believe outthought our forum with the tactical change.

Within a flash of the 2nd half starting, it was same old, same old.  I wouldn't blame Payne for the goal.  He did lose possession in his own half after getting his feet in a tangle but there was no obvious goal or even killer pass at that stage.  As a defender on the edge of his box, it was incumbent on Baudry not to be off balance and in a tangle.  He failed.  Odimayo seemed to give James the freedom of Yorkshire for the second.  Once again, our opponents had to do very little to earn their 3 points.

However, Sheridan was unaccountably passive in how he reacted to the deficit.  

It must be Caddis for Grounds at a certain point in the second half when we are chasing the game (as is now standard).  Nothing against Grounds starting but he is useless offensively.  He seems to be given the run of the left hand side and it all then slows down.  Caddis would be interacting with Jonny Smith in a way that attracted a lot more options for Jonny Smith or Caddis himself and attracting opposition attention away from the middle of the park.  Venk's proposal of switching the more combative and taller Hope and Diallang was another option as DJ was not turning the Donny CBs and was being given nothing anyway by the Ref.

Fryers was once again a fast, canny monster in defence.  My MOM.

Kovar 7/10: How can you rate that? Best save I have seen from a Town keeper in years! Not much chance with the two goals. In position the rest of the time and made everything look easy.
Odimayo 6/10: Will focus on him losing us the game by wandering up the pitch and mainly being at fault for the 2nd.
Baudry 7/10: Thought he looked mostly good tonight. No real howlers. Tracked the same man as Fryers for the second though, but had no cover from Odimayo.
Fryers 8/10: Played well. Looked assured. Distribution not good in the first half
Grounds 6/10: Thought he did mostly well.
Conroy 7/10: Mainly solid in front of the defence. No creativity, but shawed up the defence
Payne 5/10: Tracked back in the first half. Defended well. Poor in the second half.
M Smith 6/10: Out lone midfielder
J Smith 6/10: Struggled on the right in the first half. Will be disappointed with the miss. Second half on the left he looked dangerous at times. (I don't think he is helped by others not making runs off him)
DJ 5/10: Offered little. One chance from a beautiful cross by J Smith. Slipped to grab the penalty
Hope 4/10: Offered nothing.

Subs:
Stevens 5/10: Saw him track back and make 1 good tackle. Didn't make most of his pace. For the first time he fired the ball into the net. Shame he was offside.
T Smith 4/10: Don't think he touched the ball did he?

Absolutely.  Grounds needed to be subbed.

Am I too harsh on Baudry's role in the first goal, well though he played otherwise.

Kovar finally, finally looking rather good and a great save.

Baudry shares the first goal 50/50 with Payne

I think we'll be below them by the New Year.

Odimayo:
- Bit of a downer after the defeat
- Playing well enough but not coming out with the results
- When we had the ball we moved it well and created opportunities
- Need to be more ruthless in the final third
- Lapses in concentration when we are in possession
- We'll learn from it
- Admitted he was at fault tonight
- We are working on conceding goals. We have made steps forward
- Need to get clean sheets and start to score
- Kovar good game. Could hear him all game. Good distribution too
- All a part of the attacking threat including the CBs and him keeping out wide.
- A defeat is a defeat. They all hurt
- It was different playing with fans on Saturday. First time he'd experienced not being able to hear players on the pitch
- Didn't expect to have as much game time as he has had. Still a long way to go and improve
- Being able to play in different positions is something that he wants to continue to give managers options

Yes, I forgot that. I think it was more Payne's fault than Baudry, but can't quite remember.

Not sure that it is solely Grounds that I'm thinking of. We seem to play up and down the line with M Smith sometimes coming really close to the winger. That seems to block all the space. The options J Smith seems to have is pass back to the RB/LB or run into trouble. There is little opportunity to pass and move. Or to try to beat the defender by running into space left by others drawing people away. (I'm not explaining that well)

I'd say the opposite. Payne missed his kick midway in our half. Baudry inexplicably let a ball go straight through him on the edge of the area, leaving the striker on his own in front of goal. He tries new and original coq-up recipes every week. We had five centre halves on the pitch, yet still he's getting a game every week.

I agree with this... it happened with Caddis and a little bit with Odimayo but it is missed ... Good point you raise ...

ultimately we set up to not concede most matches yet we concede and dont look like scoring.

the strikers are isolated. four four fucking two let's do it. and stop playing centre backs at full back/wing back (do we now only have caddis?)

our actual wingers, Steven's, smith, hope and dj are starved without overlaps and support. are front players have so much work to do when they receive the ball.

Sure I speak for many when I say I'd rather us play like we were at the start of the season, at least those losses were entertaining. Maybe time to recognise we can't go a full 90 without making a costly mistake and just try to outscore the opposition?

It worked for us last season.

Where has all this about alcoholism come from?

I wouldn’t mind betting that he’s got the job because rather than being paid in any conventional way, he’ll get a lump sum on a sale. The sort of offer you can only really make to a mate of the Director of Football, when you’ve decided you’re not going to fund the club anymore. Pure speculation, but I’m scratching my head wondering why, in a market full of out of work managers that may actually want to push onwards and build something, we appointed the dud. The one that gives the impression within weeks or arriving that he doesn’t want to be here. There’s a certain acceptance of our deficiencies at the moment, because we’re all waiting for Power to go, but in reality, by the time he goes we will be down at this rate. If this was a “usual” managerial appointment that had just lost 8 of 10 games - there would be some genuine questions about his future. Instead, Power is absent and we all know there is zero scope for him to be sacked and someone progressive appointed. 

I think we are rapidly seeing things go very wrong for Power as birds come home to roost. If he had been able to sell in the summer (covid aside) he would likely have got his cash back out, if we go down which is looking evermore likely the club will be worth considerably less than it was 12 months back.

He seems to have gambled on the money issues with both Standing and Clem, but in both cases they have proven tougher (and more litigious) than I suspect he expected when they agreed to fund with no paperwork.

Now he has a club with few assets that he cannot sell without another's say so, the money tap has run dry so what actually of any value does he own, even the training ground without the houses being approved is of little value without a tenant.

Maybe Sheridan cant polish turds. The blame for this season lies fully with Wellens, he recruited them all, then fucked off when he realised what a pile of shite he had bought in. He lost what was it? 10 from 13? That seems to be conveniently overlooked from what I've seen.

^ This!

From what I understand, Power hasn’t put much of his own money in. Standing/Power has, supposedly, put £6m in over the years. Clam has put £1.1m in and an as yet unknown amount by the elusive Mr Curran.

As has been asked before, if Power has put a sizeable amount of his own money in, where has it come from. He has no discernible business income, can’t believe he makes anything out of racing. Probably why he mentioned putting the club into admin as he has little, if any, of his own money tied up in STFC.

My worry is if the club is actively up for sale the cheapest price any prospective buyer would achieve is if we go into admin.

We are in a right old shit storm and relegation isn’t the worst bit.

Though it would be worth mentioning that Wellens was acting under recruitment constraints that he clearly wasn't happy with, which ultimately led to his departure. It speaks volumes that even when two places (Doughty's and Donohue's) have become available in the squad since the closure of the transfer window, we don't seem to have sought to fill either with out of contract options.

We're clearly bumping along the bottom spending as little as possible so as to protect the owner from racking up any further losses this season. I don't really even blame Power for that - he's just not got deep enough pockets, or any more contacts to tap up for cash.

Even if his hands weren't tied re selling the club, I'm not sure there's a queue at the door waiting to buy. If I was an investor, I'd wait until this shitshow was over so I didn't have to start by funding losses, and hope to pick up a bargain from an owner who has been bled dry and is desperate to offload.

I'm only slightly surprised that more clubs don't seem to be struggling as badly as we are.

But blaming Wellens is not going to change the situation, replacing Sheridan might, however unlikely it is to happen.

Bamboo's got a bee in his bonnet 'bout booze.

Sheridan was appointed as a cheap option until the club is sold. Any new owner will not be landed with compensation when they want to appoint their own man.

I’m not even sure that going back to L2 would actually affect the selling price that much.

I was thinking more hope value, giving the new owner a higher level to start up, but at the moment I imagine its very much a buyers market so we shall see.

As noted many times over the years the club really doesn't have any assets so it really isn't worth very much at all unless you find someone who really wants it, its clear that there is no one out there who specifically wants STFC so in selling you are looking for someone who wants the 'prestige' of owning a football club and lets be honest we are not likely to be at the top of the tree for that!

In normal times you'd afford a new manger the grace to exploit "the window".

The issue is this year I'm not confidednt we'll have funds for the window. I'm yet to see much improvement so far with what we've got. Same old same old.

just got to hope we are completely wrong and it changes. It has happened before without warning.

Humph.

Couldn’t agree more. I think giving Sheridan shit is the easy out. Yes it’s a results industry and of course the buck stops with the manager, but he’s come into an under performing, badly balanced squad (2 fucking central midfielders Wellens you absolute helmet!!) with a raft of injuries. He’s tried to make us harder to beat which on the whole, we are, but as a team our concentration is absolutely feeble, we can’t go 90 minutes without at least 1 goalscoring opportunity being given away. At least Sheridan hasn’t hung any players out to dry and on the face of it is trying to maintain positivity.

It’s complete hindsight of course but I’m not sure any other manager might have been able to do that much better in the current situation.

January is now very important. Do we give Shez the chance to try and shape what he’s looking to do (a bit like Phil Brown - eek) or look to bring in a progressive manager for something a bit longer term? Of course the uncertainty with Power doesn’t help so I think we might be in limbo for a while. Football fans of course aren’t patient so it’s going to be hugely frustrating!

Is this all down to circulating rumours about Sheridan? I remember someone said something about him battling with demons or addiction a while back but I don’t know that those rumours have any substance to them. Anyone else know any more about this?

100% this.

I get that it has been dismal recently but I just can't bring myself to judge Sheridan as STFC manager based on what he's had available to him so far, I really don't see that anybody else could have done much better given the state of the squad. 

Even the most high profile firefighter managers out there couldn't have put out a team fit for purpose in L1 so far, we're getting to a position where we might just be able to do that soon and if we still look as hopeless as we have done after a run of games with an, on paper, fit for purpose side then absolutely I will be asking questions. 

Unfortunately we have a couple of fixtures that would look tough regardless coming up, if we can't get anything out of Franchise and Wigan I'll be worried, hoping against hope that something is in place to get a forward through the door in time to face Wigan, highly unlikely, I understand that, at least Twine will, presumably, be back and hopefully eager to get his STFC career properly off the ground, if we can afford to bring Palmer back then there's a fourth (including Lyden) CM in the squad.

I accept that it's in my nature to give people the benefit of the doubt, he certainly had an opportunity at 0-2 away at Crewe to make changes to see the game out, Caddis not dealing with it properly for their 1st didn't help but we should have done better there.

Fully expecting a barrage of abuse now, do I think Sheridan can turn it around enough to earn respect from the fanbase?  No.  Do I think we can do enough to stay up?  Yes.  Do I think we will?  No idea but if other teams around us have had their strongest group of players available and they're as bad as we are as it stands then we have a chance. 

We're not going to appoint a proper manager with Power actively looking to get out so for now I'm going to hope rather than froth at the mouth.

Would help if he had a striker on the pitch

That was bamboo as well. I think it comes from rumours among Chesterfield fans when Sheridan was manager there, bamboo lives out that way IIRC.

Yup. Wellens' recruitment was poor and he left Sheridan with an unbalanced squad ravaged with injuries. So Sheridan started off by being dealt a poor hand, that doesn't mean he hasn't also played it badly.

Nobody would give a shxx about Sheridans 'demons' if we won every game!

It was a mess when he came in and not an easy fix.

I didnt even bother listening to it last night...losing the will but that isnt Sheridans fault.

We have a transfer win to save our arse, otherwise its the abyss (again).

Its blindingly obvious that Sheridan either doesn't want to be here or just acknowledges we are a shit show and its just a way to pay the mortgage for a couple of months (still don't understand why Power employed him, I assume that Wright/Hunt didn't want it, has Hunt re-appeared anywhere yet?), perhaps Power has told him its only short term until a sale goes through?

There is playing a hand, but if the hand is absolutely abysmal (don't play poker so cannot give an example) even the best manager in the world could not win from there.

The squad is unbalanced beyond belief
We have got a shed load of injury prone players (worked last season failed miserably this)
Senior players seem to be making a heck of a lot of unforced errors, seem to be over the hill in certain cases
Junior players are playing too much and in a shit team their confidence is going to shit
We have an owner who has bloody vanished leaving a void of rumour and counter rumour
We have a manger who has the charisma of a dead fish

Its a perfect storm of a shit show, you would think we would be used to it by now!

This

Completely agree with this

+1

Shez has a poor depth of squad and several poor quality players, that is entirely Wellens fault.

He has made a few poor choices in games but I still reserve full judgement until he has had a chance to bring in his own players in January, if he is able to.

To many Town fans Sheridan is a very easy scapegoat as he is Powers man and the cheap option, apparently, lets see what the next month brings.

The league is wide open and every team can beat every other team, put together 4 wins on the bounce by whatever means and it changes the scenario totally, almost every game we have lost we have been on control for long periods of the match, we just can't do it for a whole 90 mins.

Currently we need another midfielder and a striker as priority and at least one more experienced keeper rather than relying on 2 very inexperienced ones, Kovar did well yesterday in probably his best game but I would like to see a 30+ year old keeper coming along to steady the ship when we need it.

He did play a perfect ‘bluff’ with Broadbent up front at the Triangle.

Unfortunately he then ruined it by trying it again at Crewe and was seen off by the better player.

It's easy to forget we're not far off being a competitive side. We've played really well in the first half of our last three away games at Crewe, Gillingham and Doncaster, even if our attack has lacked teeth. But then there's always a silly mistake at the back, then we lose our shape chasing each game.

If we can get Conroy and Fryers back playing regularly, it will give us a much better core. Then get our attacking players in the right positions - DJ and Jonny running at defences from wide - two from Tyler/Hope/Pitman in the middle (our recruitment hasn't really worked in this department) - with Lyden behind Matt Smith controlling the middle and suddenly it looks a lot rosier.

With the schedule easing up a bit after the New Year, I think there's hope for this squad, if only we can play people in the right positions.

Such things need cash, and we seem to be lacking in the pot to piss in department. Plus one would assume that the litigation with Standing has killed that source whilst high profile shenanigans in the courts will no doubt deter anyone else wanting to put in a few million on the basis of Powers handshake alone.

Which is why my post stated.

We won't be able to do anything in January, assuming we've taken the extra grant and thus under an umbongo.

I do not know this to be true.

Of the 3 positions PV named, midfielder, striker and keeper, the first two can be strengthened/supplemented by recalling Twine and Palmer from their loans. Whether that improves the situation remains to be seen but the point is it wouldn't need cash, albeit I guess we would then lose whatever portion of their wages Newport and Wigan are paying. But could still be done even if we have taken the monitored grant from the bailout cash as well, to partially answer PP's point

Even if we have taken the extra grant then we can still sign players on loan and free transfers apparently.

I'd take a punt on the lad up front from Darlington

You wonder if some of the loans will be returned as a way to fill other positions

Stevens will be sent back. Fryer will go. Kovar will stay. Have to hope that the Smiths will not be recalled.

We'll recall Palmer and Twine because they're cheaper than new players.

We'll sign a keeper and a defensive mid.

Anything else, realistically?

Are you in the know on this?
What about a striker, the manager has mentioned he needs a forward several times

Covid is the first thing to blame - I don;t know why us more than others, but that has certainly messed with the players.  From the odd pre-season, to playing loads of games quickly, to no crowds, to the mental impact of just living in these times etc.  It's clearly, in my mind, behind the concentration issues and our injuries.

Wellens gets some blame for not realising the fact this season was going to be very different and we needed a team of mentally tough characters who could bond and work through a tough season, aiming first and foremost to make it to the end, then worry about how high.  He compounded the issue by using the same approach as last year for type of player, but wasn't able (due to the Covid impact on finances) to get the higher standard.  We've ended up with a slightly short of a full squad capable of making a run at Div 4 if we were playing a normal season.

Power gets blame for being Power - not a time for an absent owner without any money and a bunch of legal cases hanging over his neck.

Sheridan gets blame for clearly just not being invested.  He's got very little clue about the squad still, that shows in his interviews, and he's equally as absent as Power it seems.  His formation has changed for every game I think, all close to every game.  You cannot expect to find any sort of form by doing that.  Players, already mentally shot, will pick up on a lack of clear leadership and use it as an excuse.  An easy way to avoid being too critical of yourself and doubling down your focus on improving.

It's a perfect storm.

The best we can hope for is a return from injury of the key players - starting to happen.

Then we need a settled formation and approach to the game.

The best players in this squad have it in them to compete - we are then relying on them gaining the necessary focus and pulling together.

There is a chance, is slim, relying on the stars aligning a bit, but we've taken a shit load of bad luck already, so maybe it will balance out?

Palmer needs to return, and Twine.  Find a left back or right back to fill Donohue's slot.  If we can get a forward great.

Are we actually training roughly as normal, in usual times there would be interviews and stuff on socials about training etc but there seems to be nothing at the moment, it may just be covid but there is nothing to stop just one of the coaches to take a couple of pics with their phone for the social media people to use to show something is happening. Our players often seem to play like they rarely play together!

Watching the Ben Foster videos makes you realise just how weird things are even at Championship level, with teams having to get changed in function suites at away grounds and away team showers being in the ground car park, so dread to think what its like at our level.

No, I'm not vaguely ITK. Just thinking what's the practical minimum we can get away with. I'm already pushing the boat out by adding four while losing two. That in itself is pretty wild talk in the current climate.

Now you want another striker too? Some kids.  ::)

Given we cant score i think we do need one and I think a big tall forward to flick on for t.smith would be what is needed. Twine isnt the answer here, but he will help with options for the no 10/payne role..
We need help thats for sure..

We can all see what we need, but that's not what decides what we get. Unfortunately the big tall forward budget went on Pitman.

It sounds like you're actually asking Power to magic up some new budget, which I'd say is a tad optimistic as things stand.

Well given donague has left (although not a high salary) and we have money from the premier league, speculating a little in order to stay in lg 1 and enable him to sell club in lg1 i would say is important, value of club drops if we are in lg2 which is not what he would want..
Interesting fact, Sheridan was nicknames sherry Sheridan at chesterfield.. the fact he thought we lost 2-0 last night and doesnt know half the squad still makes me worried

Yes the players are training the same days.
4 days last week.

We had a decent striker lined up from a Championship side and Wellens pushed back on it.
What a mistake that looks now.

Superb post that.

Excellent post Rob.

Power (and perhaps Wellens, but I guess he was being as frugal as possible) being so short sighted is also to blame. Constant use of loans and 1 year contracts has hit us fairly hard. We were playing last season knowing full well the vast majority of the best players could leave for free. Seems to be a game we play every season and whilst it will have the odd success (14/15 arguably, and last season) it will always come back and bite us at some point.

Power doesn't want to be here, and it's glaringly obvious it's 'just a job' for Sheridan (that doesn't mean he doesn't want to do well of course). The entire infrastructure of the club needs to be rebuilt IMO. A chairman / owner who wants to build something long term and at least have SOME ambition would be ideal.

I was listening to Charlton's (non) owner Thomas Sandgaard on TalkSport yesterday and listening to him say "I want to get this club to the top level, we want to be a big part of the community, I want to get fans excited" made me feel so jealous. It could all be hot air but at least he's saying it. I have defender Power a fair amount without ever being a fan of his, but his complete lack of ambition and his "well, we're lucky to just get by" does get to me sometimes. I guess this is what it is to be a Swindon Town fan but fuck me, wouldn't it be nice to have someone in charge who could see Swindon as a club in a huge town with a lot of potential that needs a big kick up the arse.

Might be a daydreamer but I honestly think the potential to turn this club into a big, successful asset for the Town is huge. The population of Swindon is huge, and still growing quickly.

From the Donny forum, gives us something to think about.

Great post and completely agree.. It really annoys me we haven't heard from LP since Wellens left and that was only because he had to. Very very poor.

We need an owner who wants to be here to help us move forward and inject some passion back in the club.. RW had that passion but since he has left i have seen this passion and spark dwindle again. Sherry Sheridan isnt the man for us, hes a low budget stop gap.

My view is we need fresh ownership and passion from a  new owner ASAP before we do go too far backward from the highs of last season.

Agree, very well said Rob

Bzzzzz!  ;)

Football clubs lose money every year. To own one you’ve either got to be prepared to prop them up with your own money or be able to sell players on quicker than you lose money.

Football owners are usually either hopeless romantics or ruthless get rich quick (or slow) schemers. They are probably not helped by most clubs lacking strategic direction from their full time staff (eg. Directors of football who know what they are doing). How many clubs have clear links between academy and 1st team, and already have replacement players and managers lined up for when the existing ones move on for a profit?

Southampton and Brentford both come to mind, but many others?

There is such potential in English club football for better management. If you’ve watched the film Moneyball, you might have thought like me that surely it is only a matter of time where clubs are run by Cambridge graduates and the days of having the likes of Tim Sherwood as DoF will be a distant memory. A huge culture shift would have to take place but I think it’s already happening.

Liverpool have a Throw-in Coach

Our long throw ins are awful this season, often taken by Odimayo or Grounds who rarely throw past the first man despite putting huge amounts of effort into them.

That said we don't have any players who would threaten the opposition goal from them anyway even if the delivery was brilliant.